Friends without Benefits

So you think earning 2.000+ gold a day in Pribytzlaviz is too easy and you want to handicap yourself with those two good-for-nothing friends of yours? Good, then this guide is just what you need, because chances are you haven't been able to figure out how to get these crème de la crème of absolute peasant uselessness into your lovely blossoming little village.

Introduction

If you're like me and you actually like the company of Fritz and Matthew, then you've certainly wondered how you could get these two fine good-for-nothing fellows to join you in Pribyslavitz. Right now the achievement sits at a lowly 1.3%, indicating that Fritz and Matthew are not getting the love they so desperately need.

However, considering these statistics, getting both these chaps to join you is actually not as difficult as it might seem. For starters: you will need to have the From the Ashes DLC installed. The rest is a matter of finishing their questline. In this guide I will give you a short overview of the quests you need to complete to unlock the Friends without Benefits (incidentally, in the process I'll also cover the Judas achievement as an encore).

This won't be an indepth, step-by-step walkthrough, because most of their quests are rather straightforward and will lead to the desired result no matter your choices. I'll give the final quest a bit more love though, because it's very easy to muck up and thus not get the achievement. Now let's talk details.

Overview

You will first meet your friends during the prologue in Skalitz. During the introduction quest Unexpected Visit you'll team up with this pair of mischievous devils to spread chaos and pandemonium and become the scourge of this mediaeval moat-and-bailey town. After the introduction you will lose sight of both gentlemen for quite some time, however, eventually you will stumble once again upon these two hapless souls...

Prerequisites

While progressing through the game Heinrich will eventually make his way to the town of Sasau—a town build at the foot of a burgeoning monastery build along the eponymous river. While approaching the Sasau Wagoners' Inn[kingdom-come-deliverance.fandom.com] you should be hailed by two gaily clad fellows who are loitering around the entrance gate to the tavern—alternatively either the Bailiff of Sasau, the host of the Wagoners' Inn or the proprietor of the Tavern Green Inn can tip you off on Fritz and Matthew's whereabout (these two busybody's sure seem to have made quite a name for themselves during their brief stay at Sasau).

Regardless, talk to Fritz and Matthew and listen to their plight to start their questline. In between quests your 'friends' tend to relocate quite a bit, hence it can be hard to keep track of them to continue their story. However, to get both of them to join you at Pribyslavitz you will first need to play through their entire quest tree. Else both Fritz and Matthew will tell you that they can't because they've got things to take care of... yeah I buy that story (even though they—undoubtedly cast by the vicissitudes of fate—are two lazy unemployed ne'er-do-wells with nothing but time on their hands).

To get the Friends without Benefits you will need to complete:

• A Friend In Need...[kingdom-come-deliverance.fandom.com] (Sasau)
  
• A Costly Brawl[kingdom-come-deliverance.fandom.com] (Sasau)
  
• ...Is a Friend Indeed[kingdom-come-deliverance.fandom.com] (Ledetchko)
  
• Masquerade[kingdom-come-deliverance.fandom.com] (Inn in the Glade: Fritz, Matthew & Andrew)
  
• Besmirched[kingdom-come-deliverance.fandom.com] (Inn in the Glade: Andrew)
  
• A Rock and a Hard Place[kingdom-come-deliverance.fandom.com] (Inn in the Glade: Matthew)
  
• (Optional)*** Gallows Brothers[kingdom-come-deliverance.fandom.com] (Inn in the Glade: Andrew)

*** Although you can technically start, and complete, Gallows Brothers and still get the Friends without Benefits achievement, it is neither needed nor advised to do so. The quest can quite easily lead to the early demise of your friends—thus barring you from getting the achievement. Completing it, however, is a necessary prerequisite for the Judas achievement. If you want both achievements in a single run, and don't mind to reload after getting either, you can do so with minimal efforts (see last section).

Prerequisite quests

Go to Sasau and either approach Fritz and Matthew on your own or get prompted to do so by first talking to the Bailiff or either innkeep in Sasau. Talk to Fritz and Matthew at the Sasau Wagoners' Inn (that is the inn at the Sasau Monastery side of the Sasau river) and pledge to help them out. This starts the A Friend In Need... quest.

A Friend In Need...

Turns out Fritz and Matthew didn't do as good as you after Skalitz, and they're in desperate need of coin. Matthew suggest they could work for Theresa's uncle. Go to the Rattay Mill and talk to Theresa (who will be overjoyed with the news of Fritz and Matthew's survival) and she will suggest you talk to the Ledetchko miller. Go there and talk with Miller Oliver and get him to hire Skalitz finest working duo.

A Costly Brawl

During A Friend In Need... Matthew mentions that the monastery owes Fritz and him some money. Being the good friend you are, you no doubt will feel positively inclined to help them mediate. However, press Matthew a bit more and it turns out they might've beat up one of the monks at the monastery (brother Elias).

Go to the monastery, talk with Johanka (another Skalitz survivor) who will give you a little lecture and eventually you will be prompted to approach brother Elias. He seems quite happy to promise Fritz and Matthew eternal damnation for their misdeeds—however—being the good Christian you are, you persuade good brother Elias to nullify the debt (or you can pay it yourself).

...Is a Friend Indeed

Having ended up at the Ledetchko Mill, Fritz and Matthew seem to be living the good life. However, after a couple of days they seem to be in need of our fine hero's help again. Talk to them and ...Is a Friend Indeed should start. Turns out they actually like being at the mill (well Matthew at least), but the foreman—old Thomas—seems to make live miserable for them.

You can either bribe the foreman to go easy on your friends, ambush him while tempting him into a game of cards, or provoke him into a fist fight with your friends. Either way should finish the quest. You can also talk to the Miller and investigate the goings-on at the Mill, which might to a more satisfying—albeit more out of character—ending.

Masquerade

Once again on the run for the boys in blue, our duo—who are rapidly depleting their monetary needs—end up at the Inn in the Glade, where they hatched another fabulous plan with the help of the illicit innkeeper Andrew. To start Masquerade—and in the process make a complete fool out of yourself—you actually need to talk with the innkeep (the bald guy called Andrew). After playing a lot off fetch, eventually, you'll complete the quest. This should lead to...

Besmirched

...the next quest (Besmirched), which you need to start (again) by talking to the innkeep and who happens to have an interesting business opportunity for you. Agree to look into it and go to Rattay to find the robbed man. Talk to him, and go back to inform Andrew of your findings. He'll name drop the culprit who turns out to be a charcoal burner at Rovna. Now you can either intimidate the charcoal burner into revealing the trinket's location, buy the trinket from him, pickpocket him for money, or outright kill him. Do what you must and return either to Adam or Andrew to complete the quest.

Now finally, you can talk to Fitz and Matthew again to get a new quest. Do so.

A Rock and a Hard Place

Our friends seem to want to force a change in their fortunes and they have just the scheme to make it work. Turns out they want to rob out the miners at the Talmberg stone quarry when it's their payday. Never to afraid to get your hands dirty, you graciously accept the offer to be their accomplish in crime and you work out the details.

At this point you can also talk to innkeep Andrew and start Gallows Brothers. You don't really need this quest, and in a way it only complicates getting Fritz and Matthew to join you in Pribyslavitz.

Stablemaster
Regardless, go to Talmberg and speak to the stablemaster, who will inform you that the horses have gotten an unfortunate fit of colic. Press him further, and after a successful persuasion check, he'll tell you that the horses are needed by the guards in 5 days time at noon. Continue talking with him and mention the herbalist, which he seems less than enthusiastic about.

Head out to the herbalist [kingdom-come-deliverance.fandom.com] and find out that the loathing is mutual. Mention that you could sorta hurt the horses without killing them and she'll tell you how to do it. Return with the poison and give this recipe to the stablemaster.

Sir Robard
Next visit Sir Robard. If you started Gallows Brothers make sure not to spill your beans on the ambush. Instead talk to him about the guards and mention how your liege lord—Sir Radzig—needs some extra manpower to root out the Cumans in the region. Pass two persuasion checks and Sir Robard will agree to hand over some guards.

The raid
Now go and find Fritz and Matthew at their hideout above the quarry. Inform them about the time of the attack and about your attempts to lessen the guards. Ask him what they learned, and he'll inform you the money will most likely be held under guard in the lodging closest to their hideout. Now you can either come back at the destined hour (turns out the money train arrives not at noon but in the morning), or just tell Matthew you'll wait with them, which should skip the next 5 days.

Either use stealth, brute strength or subterfuge to get the money. Make sure Fritz and Matthew survive, and meet them at the meadow after the heist. Give them their share of the money and they'll be off to spend it.

About a day after sharing the loot they will return to the Inn in the Glade and you can ask them to join you in Pribyslavitz. Seems that Fritz and Matthew have run out of things to do and they are more than willing to join you in your little fiefdom. Agree with both Fritz and Matthew and the achievement is yours!

Congrats on recruiting Skalitz' finest. Now Fritz'll compliment you on the fine ale you're brewing and Matthew will complain how there's too many sweaty labourers! Of course, having these two expert connoisseurs in your lovely village comes at a price too... A small price to pay for the love and eternal gratitude you'll get in return for helping these two poor fellows out.

Gallows Brothers

For some added spice you can also start Gallows Brothers. Do so by talking to innkeep Andrew about the heist and accept his proposition. This should start Gallows Brothers. Because we want the Friends without benefits achievement—and there is no sense in starting this quest if you only want it to fail—go and talk with Matthew and tell him about Andrew's plan to sell them out. Matthew will be infuriated and wanting to kill Andrew right away, but Heinrich will manage to convince him that selling Andrew out to Sir Robard is more fun.

Continue as described in A Rock and a Hard Place. Whatever you do, don't mention ze heist! when talking to Sir Robard. When you've stolen the money make sure to visit the Inn in the Glade and plant the fake evidence in the cellar below the inn (which can be accessed via the backroom). After the filthy deed is done, return to Sir Robard and tell him you know who has robbed the money train. Snitch out and tell him that Andrew—and only Andrew—was responsible, which'll make Sir Robard depart for the inn.

Meet up with your friends (if you didn't already) divide the loot and return to the inn for a nice little extra touch. A day or so later your friends will also arrive at the inn (sometimes they're in the stables to the back) and you can ask them to join you in Pribyslavitz. Agree with both and that's it for the Friends without Benefits achievement.

(Fritz and Matthew feel right at home with fellow Skalitz refugee Adam)

Judas

If you also want the Judas achievement, make sure to start the Gallows Brothers quest by talking to innkeep Andrew. Play as described above (although you can already mention the robbery when you first talk to Sir Robard). Make sure to get a hard save before you talk to Sir Robard after robbing the money train with Fritz and Matthew..

This time, don't tell him that Andrew is the only culprit, but lay the blame on Fritz, Matthew and Andrew. Sir Robard will depart for the Inn and deal with them succinctly. The achievement should pop up once you return to the Inn at the Glade. Interestingly, it'll also unlock if either Fritz or Matthew (or both) died during the heist.

Now reload your hard save, and continue as described above to get Friends without Benefits.

[WalkWhenICanFly]

Thanks for the guide!

One addition (I saw someone commenting this in 2020 lol and I think this is a pretty niche resolution of the quest but maybe it'll be useful to someone else): if you solve "A Rock And A Hard Place" by stealing the wages from the Talmberg tower, you can only recruit one of them right away (doesn't matter who you start with, the 2nd one you ask will say some variation of the "I've got problems of my own").

Give the share to one of them and immediately talk to them again (they'll start to leave) to ask them to come to Pribyslavitz. They should say yes.
Give the share to the other one. You can try asking but he'll say no. Wait a few days and they should be at the Inn at the Glade, you should be able to recruit them now.

[Taggrin]

Thanks for the guide. One addition I like to make: when also starting Gallows Brothers, make sure to complete the optional objective to tell Andrew's plan to Matthew. If you don't, the quest will fail as soon as you start waiting for the heist. As a result you can't snitch anymore after getting the money.

Or better yet, you can follow these steps, which are easier to follow:
- Talk to Matthew, but at the end say you need to sort out things first (allowing you to start "Gallows Brothers" without starting "A Rock and a Hard Place").
- Start "Gallows Brothers" at Andrew.
- Tell Matthew about Andrew's plan.
- Steal the money from the Talmberg watch tower chest (hard lock chest).
- Now tell Matthew you are in to start "A Rock and a Hard Place", give them both their share to complete the quest instantly.
- Plant the empty bag in the cellar.
- Snitch the heist to Sir Robard.

This way you can skip the entire heist and easily choose who to snitch for both achievements.

[Blackpot]

@X-ztnZ, i figured out they won't join you unless you build pub for them

[X-ztnZ]

@Blackpot, good question. I haven't tested it out, but I'm pretty sure you need to at least have the alehouse for them to join.
@Elyz, yes you need their questline to progress to the point where they get to the Inn at the Glade. There is several ways to complete the "A Costly Brawl" quest, you can find them on the wiki which is linked here.

[LizByTheSword]

I just found out that you can start "A Costly Brawl" by talking with Brother Elias directly if you decide not to press Fritz.

[LizByTheSword]

I skipped over "A Costly Brawl" many, many saves ago. Is that quest absolutely needed for these achievements?

[Blackpot]

What progress Prybislavitz needs for them to join? It needs to be completed, or they can be invited during process?

[kris.aalst]

Thanks for the comprehensive guide for these two achievements. Special mention to "don't mention ze heist!" That cracked me up and made my day! Because of that, the award that best fits my feelings right now is 'Hilarious' but I wouldn't want people to think someone was laughing at your guide for some reason, so I went with a more conservative award Anyway, well deserved!

[X-ztnZ]

Interesting, make sure to give the money to Fritz and Matthew separately. If you did and they don't want to come with you, try waiting for a day or two and ask them both again. If they still say they're busy then the quest, unfortunately, appears to be bugged and you have to reload an older save. Hope it works out for you!

[Jimmy]

i stole the money from talmberg tower and gave it to them, completing the quest successfully, but when i ask them to come to prisbavaliasdtyz, they say they've got problems of their own still. what should I do?